Keith Jarrett: Roma

Description

Roma is the fifth and final concert recording from Keith Jarrett's highly acclaimed last European solo tour of 2016, captured at the Santa Cecilia Hall in Rome on July 12th. It brings the chapter to a close with music that stands apart even within this remarkable series. As the Italian daily paper La Repubblica summarily stated at the time of the concert: "Ultimately, Jarrett celebrates a timeless ritual--one that, in some respects, is as old as humanity itself. He pays tribute to the act of creation, to spontaneous composition, and he does so in front of an audience, sharing with listeners the excitement of discovery." The procedure on this evening, familiar yet separate, unfolded according to its own inner logic: first the canvas is cleared; in "Part I", Jarret builds momentum with dense chromatic lines, staccato, before themes become apparent and the keys are allowed sustain. "Part II" continues in this sombre yet more obviously organised fashion before in the subsequent parts familiar touch and lyricism give way to unexpected counterpoint and passages of concentrated rhythmic insistence - all forming one great architectural structure. If the concerts from Budapest, Bordeaux, Munich and Vienna each revealed a distinct musical landscape, Roma offers another, unmistakably its own.

Description

Roma is the fifth and final concert recording from Keith Jarrett's highly acclaimed last European solo tour of 2016, captured at the Santa Cecilia Hall in Rome on July 12th. It brings the chapter to a close with music that stands apart even within this remarkable series. As the Italian daily paper La Repubblica summarily stated at the time of the concert: "Ultimately, Jarrett celebrates a timeless ritual--one that, in some respects, is as old as humanity itself. He pays tribute to the act of creation, to spontaneous composition, and he does so in front of an audience, sharing with listeners the excitement of discovery." The procedure on this evening, familiar yet separate, unfolded according to its own inner logic: first the canvas is cleared; in "Part I", Jarret builds momentum with dense chromatic lines, staccato, before themes become apparent and the keys are allowed sustain. "Part II" continues in this sombre yet more obviously organised fashion before in the subsequent parts familiar touch and lyricism give way to unexpected counterpoint and passages of concentrated rhythmic insistence - all forming one great architectural structure. If the concerts from Budapest, Bordeaux, Munich and Vienna each revealed a distinct musical landscape, Roma offers another, unmistakably its own.